Chapter 6: Danger Sense... Tingling!
Summary:
A new day dawns as One for All grants Izuku a new power! Surely, nothing can go wrong today... right?
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
"So, Izu-kun, are you sure that you and your mom don't have a tear-based Quirk?" Ochako joked.
"It might actually be a minor heteromorphic trait we share," Izuku grinned. "But she's really happy that things are going so well for me. Particularly news about my Quirk."
The two of them had finished dinner and their homework before he walked her back to her apartment. He was surprised at how close it was.
He suddenly got a flash of insight. The family friend who'd given her the studio apartment had several apartments in a number of buildings she could have chosen, and she deliberately chose the one closest to his. That was humbling. The connection between them was that strong already.
"Speaking about your Quirk…" Ochako said, plunging Izuku's heart into a bucket of ice water. "Is there some sort of mental component to it?"
Even if he could lie about it (and with their connection, there was no way he could), Izuku wouldn't. She deserved to know, "Y-yes. I had no idea it was a thing, but it turns out the energy that I'm stockpiling can manifest itself in weird ways. Like, I mentioned that we think I'll be able to fly, but it's also forming connections between me and other people. Linking our brain waves or something."
"I thought it was kind of weird how we were getting along so quickly, but I wasn't really questioning it because it felt nice," Ochako said. "Guess your Quirk decided we should be friends! And Yaomomo, too."
"It's involuntary!" Izuku said, waving his hands frantically. "I can't control it! And… wait, you know I've bonded with Yaomomo?"
"I could feel her emotions and got the same correct guesses that I did with you," Ochako admitted. "She's really nice! If I had to choose someone, she'd definitely be on that list."
Izuku sighed, "You should know it's not just the two of you. I went to the Support Department to meet with Power Loader about my costume. While there, I met a first-year Support student named Hatsume Mei. We bonded after I agreed to let her help make support items for me."
Ochako took this in. She wasn't thrilled, but at the same time, he couldn't control it. She'd have to roll with the punches, "Hmm. I wonder how many people this will include. Can we meet this Hatsume girl?"
"Sure!" Izuku thought about it, "Though, she's a little… odd. Doesn't really care about social niceties or personal space. And she calls her inventions her 'babies'. So if she talks about 'making babies', it's building support gear."
His face was completely red by this point. Ochako's was too. "That's… certainly a thing…" She realized they were at her building, "I'll see you at school tomorrow, Izu-kun!"
"Um… Occhan, are you worried at all about this whole bonding thing?" Izuku said cautiously. "I don't want to make you uncomfortable."
"If anything, this has made me more comfortable," Ochako replied. "You can't help what your Quirk does, and I've got an amazing friend out of it! That's a complete win in my book!"
"Yeah," Izuku said, tears starting to form. "It really is. Good night, Occhan!"
"Good night, Izu-kun!" Ochako responded as she entered her building.
As he walked home, his "tear Quirk" expressed itself
That night, once again, he entered the odd misty dreamspace to see the vestiges. He'd been there often. He could see them, place faces to the voices he heard, and they'd tell him a bit more about themselves and One for All.
Tonight, for the first time, he saw several of them together. Yoichi, Nana, and Hikage all stood before him. He still didn't have a mouth, but one of his arms below the elbow was solid.
"Hey there, Izuku," Yoichi said, ruffling the boy's hair. "You've been progressing nicely. We have a few things to discuss..."
"First of all, we figured something out about the bonding Quirk," Nana said. "I barely noticed it, but when you and Ochako-chan bonded, I could feel something through that link. I thought the others felt the same, but we just learned that wasn't the case."
"I didn't feel what Nana felt, but after you made your bond with Hatsume, I could feel it," Hikage said, stroking his chin.
"And I could feel it when you bonded with Yaoyorozu," Yoichi said. "While we're still uncertain as to what this is, I hypothesize that we're the medium through which the bond is made."
"Each of us is similar to the girls in some way. I mean, my Float and Ochako-chan's Zero Gravity are two similar Quirks," Nana said.
"Hatsume and I both have sensory Quirks," Hikage nodded in agreement. That made sense to Izuku. The mechanisms between the eye mutation in Mei's Zoom were different from the emitter properties of Hikage's Danger Sense, but there was a similarity.
"My and Yaoyorozu-san's Quirks aren't too similar," Yoichi replied. "However, there can be an argument that me forming the legacy that is One for All is thematically resonant with her Creation Quirk."
Nana giggled a bit, "Wish we could get your commentary while you're in here. Hope you can form a mouth soon."
Izuku could only look on with an expression that made it clear he agreed.
"In any case, you have acclimated well to One for All, in part thanks to your constant use of your 'invisible mode'," Yoichi referred to how Izuku used Full Cowl at half-power to remove the more blatant indicators of use like his lightning or red veins. "Between that, One for All reaching singularity, and these bonds, we believe the time is right to start giving you some of the stored Quirks."
If Izuku had a mouth, he would have squealed in delight, and it showed.
"Danger Sense is going to be your first additional Quirk," Hikage said. "This Quirk comes with a terrible downside. However, you already have anxiety, so it should be fine."
"Shinomori," Nana groaned, exasperated.
"Danger Sense can't necessarily be turned off, but you can learn to tune it out. I should also note that vigilantism is still a crime, one that's frowned upon more now than it was in my time, so you can't go haring off to stop crimes just because you can detect them more easily," Hikage continued.
Izuku gave a thumbs up.
"Izuku, we need to be able to trust you with this," Nana said in her mom-voice.
Whether it was his actual mother or his new ghost stepmom, Izuku was weak against the mom-voice. He looked contrite and nodded as best as he could without a neck.
"Good. This is a good time to get used to Danger Sense, at school where the danger is minimal. Rest well, Izuku," Yoichi said fondly as the mists consumed them all.
"I'm sorry I jinxed you, Izuku," Yoichi said apologetically.
Izuku was currently in the nurse's office with a splitting headache that had come about outside the gates. Danger Sense had more of a kickback than he expected. Eraserhead had brought him there, and Nezu and All Might had joined them.
"So, Decade Force has manifested in one of the ways Nezu predicted already," Eraserhead deadpanned as Recovery Girl handed Izuku a headache pill and a bottle of water. "This is the Danger Sense technique?"
"Yeah, I was concentrating on the Empathy technique to see if it gave me any insights. Had a breakthrough and woke up with a new sense. It was manageable until I got here. I wish I could tell you exactly what caused it," Izuku said through the pain.
"We'll stay on high alert," Nezu said. "There is a chance that this new sense is simply overwhelming you, but we will not risk it. We'll increase patrols and keep the press at bay."
Izuku breathed a sigh of relief as the medicine began to kick in and Aizawa left to head towards the classroom. As Izuku got up, All Might came up and asked, "Are you sure you're all right, young Midoriya?"
"I should be," Izuku responded. "Hikage-ji-san says that the sort of pressure I felt was a looming threat, nothing immediately dangerous but a problem that can strike at any moment. I wish I could have picked out who it was."
"Well, I'm glad you told us," Nezu said. "If you're feeling well enough, you should go to class. We'll handle this, young man."
Izuku nodded. He managed to make it in on time, taking his seat near the window, with Toru in front of him, Momo behind him, and Pony directly to his side. It was serendipity that she was placed so close to the two most fluent English speakers. Particularly when they explained the Japanese method of alphabetizing, which was initially incomprehensible to her.
When the bell rang, the class quickly became orderly. "Four seconds," Eraserhead said approvingly, "You're getting better. Now, I've looked over your battle trials from yesterday. All in all, good work. Some of you suffered from bad matchups, but that's something you will need to anticipate and prepare for as pros. All Might and I have made lists of observations and recommendations for each of you," he passed out folders for the students. "Read these when you have time. At the moment, you will have to make a decision that will affect the rest of your careers at U.A…"
Everyone tensed up.
"You need to select a class representative," Eraserhead declared.
The tension broke as every student wasn't expecting something so normal.
"Hey, Danger Sense didn't ping at all," Hikage said. "That should give you a good indication."
Good to know , Izuku thought as people throughout the class volunteered. Tenya was the one who suggested that they do so through voting.
"Ribbit. Wouldn't everyone just vote for themselves? We haven't known each other long," Tsuyu asked.
"Maybe we make it a rule that you can't vote for yourselves?" Itsuka suggested.
"That makes sense," Tenya replied. "But there is no way to enforce that and preserve the integrity of the secret ballot. Besides, anyone who does secure additional votes would have proven themselves worthy of trust!"
"Err, maybe we could have each person vote for two people?" Izuku suggested. Amazing how a week ago, he wouldn't have dreamed of speaking up like this. "That way, you can vote for yourself and someone else you deem trustworthy? And, is there anyone who doesn't want the position, to help us out?"
Pony, Koji, and Yui decided to bow out, likely due to their communication barriers. No one else did, and Tenya decided to take Izuku's suggestion.
Despite not bowing out, Izuku decided not to vote for himself. Between Tenya taking charge of this vote and Momo's intelligence and planning, he decided the two of them deserved his vote more than he did.
"A noble move," Yoichi said. "It hurts your chances, though."
It's fine. It would be nice to have the position, sure, but it's not like I'm going to get picked, Izuku thought to himself.
"Congratulations, Izu-kun!" Ochako said as they sat down to lunch.
Izuku was still floored as he sat down. "I can't believe I won."
Eleven people voted for him. Momo came in second place with nine votes. Itsuka had seven. Fumikage and Reiko had two apiece, which had Mina and Setsuna sharing identical grins. Everyone else who had a vote only had one.
"It should not come as a surprise, Midoriya-kun!" Tenya said enthusiastically. "From the first day, you have been propping us up, helping us better utilize our Quirks, and overall have been a bastion of integrity and strength. Not to mention, the battle trials have shown that both you and Yaoyorozu-san were incredibly adept at planning. That was why the two of you secured my votes."
"Wait, you didn't vote for yourself? Then who did?" Momo asked.
"I actually did," Izuku said sheepishly. "I thought that your organizing the vote showed the right instincts. Yaomomo got my other vote."
"I will do my best to live up to your faith in me, Midoriya-kun!" Tenya looked incredibly happy at the show of trust his friend had in him.
As Ochako asked about his background, and Tenya began to talk about his brother (Izuku had asked if Tenya was related to Ingenium on the first day, but was asked to keep it secret), Izuku ate and tried to calm his thoughts.
I feel like a fraud, Izuku thought to himself.
"Izuku, you earned it fair and square," Yoichi comforted him.
"They all know you used to be Quirkless, even if you aren't anymore," Nana said. "They still chose you based on your merits."
Izuku gave a small smile. They were right. He helped the class when they were scared by Eraserhead's expulsion threat and stood his ground when the teacher tried to intimidate him. They appreciated the analysis he'd given them, Yui told him he made her Quirk feel truly special. He'd proven himself able to lead during the battle trials, and the thought that his partner deserved equal credit was mitigated by that partner becoming his vice-rep.
Things were looking up.
Tomura hated forced stealth missions.
It looked like this level was a higher difficulty than he previously thought. There were more enemies skulking around and the NPCs he was hiding among were corralled away from the level entrance.
Luckily, he had an exploit at his disposal. A quick call to Kurogiri and he was able to portal his hand directly to the entrance. The barrier dissolved and the swarm of NPCs ran for their opportunity.
Tomura stayed within the herd for now. Ectoplasm had a few spawns walking around the place, but they didn't attack, and the press was able to barge their way in.
Now, he just needed to use the cover they provided...
A sharp, stabbing sensation rocked through Izuku's body as he jumped up and said, "Something's wrong!"
He regretted saying that when the alarms sounded off and the other students panicked and started to stampede. Izuku tried to help his friends, but Danger Sense was still going off. It wasn't hurting, but it also wasn't as generalized. He realized the source, and tried to fight the crowd to get to it.
Thankfully, Tenya was able to distract everyone by a stunt using Ochako's Quirk. Izuku didn't pay attention to what his friend was saying, but used the stillness to make his way. He could feel that sensation grow as he got closer and closer to the source of this danger, of this wrongness .
He managed to find it in the teachers' office. He saw a young man dressed in nondescript black clothes, with sickly-looking light-blue hair, cracked, chapped skin, and hateful red eyes. He was clutching a folder, sticking out his pinky finger like Ochako often did.
Their eyes met just as the man sunk into a purplish black void and vanished.
"You know, when I called you a problem child on the first day, I meant it to be a playful nickname. I dropped it because I was afraid you'd take it as malicious. I did not intend it to be a challenge ," Eraserhead groaned as Izuku finished telling the staff what he encountered.
Present Mic suppressed a chuckle, "Look, listener, we appreciate what you were trying to do, but you can't just take off like that!"
Izuku winced, "I'm sorry, but you were keeping the press at bay and I didn't run into any other staff members on the way here!"
"What's done is done," Nezu said grimly. "We must impress upon you that, going forward, you cannot simply rush into danger like that. I can appreciate that you were sensing a threat and you did follow a Hero's instinct. However, you are not a Hero yet. You are a student with a Quirk that you've only been able to access for less than a month. For now, rushing headlong towards a villain is tantamount to suicide." Nezu looked Izuku directly in the eyes, "Please don't throw your life away like that."
As the principal's words sunk in, Izuku looked at the ground, "I understand, sir."
"Now," Nezu said, much more brightly as he changed the subject, "you said that you believe a warp Quirk was in effect here?"
"For the villain's escape, yes," Izuku said. "Not that the villain himself had a warp Quirk. I noticed that he was holding the folder he took while holding his pinky finger out. That suggests a five-point touch-based activation Quirk, probably one with negative effects. It wouldn't make sense for that to be the source of his warping."
"Good to know," Nezu said. "Now, the rest of us staff members need to discuss more about the investigation. Please return to class, Midoriya-kun."
Izuku nodded as he got up, "Should I keep this from my classmates?"
"The U.A. gossip mill's working overtime," Present Mic replied. "We might as well let you tell them. They'll have heard five conflicting stories by now anyway."
Izuku nodded. When he left, Nezu said, "Well, this does shed some light on the situation. The security cameras were unable to show our intruder thanks to static interference, which a warp Quirk could easily create. The behavior that Midoriya-kun described seems to indicate that the intruder was responsible for the destruction of the U.A. barrier, with a five-point touch Quirk causing whatever he touches to decay."
Eraserhead, meanwhile, turned on All Might, "Where did you find this kid, Yagi?"
Looking at the various teachers surrounding him, All Might sighed and told the story of the day he met his successor, only leaving out the truth of One for All. When he was done, he was being stared at with some disbelief. Hound Dog had devolved into growling, and started worrying a bone to relieve the stress.
Eraserhead was utterly conflicted, and mostly exhausted, when he said, "On the one hand, I can agree that Midoriya did show the instincts and attitude necessary to become a great hero, and that with your similar histories, you were uniquely qualified to train him into realizing that goal. I can even sympathize with his interference. A child was dying and no one who had the authority or the training to do anything about it was acting in any way.
"On the other hand, at the end of an extremely psychologically damaging day, a young boy, who was told time and again he wasn't worth the air he was breathing, threw himself into a situation where he would most likely die. In the best case scenario, I presumed he believed that it was worth the risk of dying if he could save even one person, even if that person was his longtime bully. In the worst case, that was a suicide attempt. In any case, after nearly throwing his life away, he was rewarded by his idol giving him the validation he needed for years and giving him the means to make his greatest wish come true."
"As a result, we have a young man who's been taught to throw himself into dangerous situations with little regard for his own safety," Nezu summarized. "This was further illustrated during the entrance exam. Saving Uraraka was more important to Midoriya than his own wellbeing."
All Might looked down, "I never intended this, and I'm not the only one at fault, but I am responsible for a large portion of this mess and I need to fix it. I'm going to need help, though."
With a crack, Hound Dog split open the bone he was chewing. He stopped, took a deep breath, and said, in a completely calm voice, "I think it would be best if I met with him. We've been giving him time to adjust to a new school, but the boy clearly needs therapy. We need to make perfectly clear that it's not a punishment, though."
All Might smiled at the dog-man, "I believe that would be for the best. Though, I must warn you that what young Midoriya has gone through is… rough."
Hound Dog nodded, "I'll make sure I have my compression shirt for the appointments and plenty of rawhide for afterwards."
Nezu considered as he looked through the desk from which the intruder stole, "Midoriya is looking to expand his support gear. Perhaps we could give him some sort of emergency signal? A device where he can press a button and alert the faculty when his Danger Sense goes off?"
Eraserhead nodded, "That's a good call. Give him an outlet so that he doesn't have to rush in when he senses trouble."
"Normally, we'd have to impress upon him the dangers of abusing such a privilege," Present Mic contributed. "In his case, though, it's more important that we teach him to use it. We can't worry about the Boy Who Cried Wolf when our problem is the boy going out to fistfight the wolves himself."
"Ah!" Nezu exclaimed, "I believe that I know what has been taken! We're missing a copy of the teachers' schedules."
Everyone paused, then looked at All Might.
"I have a plan!" Nezu responded cheerfully. "Since this invasion was precipitated by All Might's presence, we can assume that the purpose of the attack was gathering information on him, most likely to attack him. We aren't sure exactly when they may plan to strike, but we shall keep to the schedule and prepare for an attack during any of All Might's classes. We'll include at least one additional faculty member with All Might whenever he is with our students, preferably two."
There was a consensus, and Nezu began to draft out the altered plan before the group of teachers dispersed. As All Might became the last to leave, Nezu made a noise to get his attention.
"You understand that this means you must keep to the schedule," Nezu said gravely.
"I do. If there is an attack, I cannot leave my students undefended. And besides," All Might smiled, "it would be hypocritical of me to try and convince young Midoriya that he need not take on every burden and use up my precious time. I need to have faith in my fellow Heroes to pick up the slack."
Nezu nodded, "Speaking of your successor… is his mother in on the secret?"
All Might jerked back, a trickle of blood coming from his mouth. "She is not," he admitted as he wiped his mouth with a handkerchief.
"You should remedy that. Tonight, if possible," Nezu said firmly.
"I will," All Might agreed. This was going to be a simple task. Everything would go swimmingly.
"[Shit]." All Might swore in English shortly after he arrived at the Midoriya apartment that evening.
In All Might's defense, it had been a hectic day. After the break-in and the meeting, he had the first Foundational Heroics class with 1-B. And that was, one might say, a shit-tsunami.
Vlad King was in attendance. His face was the picture of exhaustion and his eyebags could give Eraserhead's a run for their money. He was drinking from a coffee cup that All Might suspected had been spiked. Given his students, he could sympathize.
All Might had tried to judge young Bakugou on his own merits, to be as fair as possible, but he was certain that his distaste was clear. The fact that this boy had bullied his son (successor! He meant successor!) made objectivity difficult, but he was a teacher and he had to at least give him the opportunity to grow beyond what he was. Unfortunately, his fragile ego and competitive nature was beginning to fracture the class.
The only good thing that happened in that match was that young Bakugou was partnered with young Bondo. The larger boy was quiet and not prone to argument, which was the one good thing. Unfortunately, he had to face young Kamakiri and young Monoma. Those two clearly wished to see Bakugou defeated. Kamakiri saw Bakugou as a rival that he wished to overcome, while Monoma wished to crush Bakugou's fractious behavior so that the class would work towards his own goal of 1-B surpassing 1-A.
Predictably, Bakugou went off on his own to fight his opponents, leaving Bondo alone to guard the bomb. The fight was fierce, but ended with Bakugou captured, caught without recourse between the blades of his two opponents. He suspected that the boy would have let off a lethal blow with his gauntlets (who decided that a student on probation should have those?!) if not for the fact that the storage tanks were cut to ribbons early in the match.
The villain team won the exercise, Bondo having trapped and stalled the heroes with his glue as time ran out. If anything, the fact that his team won despite his capture made Bakugou's mood worse.
Other students had similar issues. Young Todoroki won his match in minutes by simply freezing the entire building, and his partner, young Awase had been sullen and foul-mouthed towards the recommended student. Young Mineta had disturbed young Shoji with odd mutterings about a "closed portal to untold wonders" in a tone that the tallest boy in the class found unsettling.
Teamwork throughout that class was poor, something that was clear throughout the exercise. Attempts to pick a class representative earlier that day had been so fractious that eventually, Vlad King appointed young Shoda as representative and young Shishida as vice representative simply on the grounds that they were the only ones trying to defuse the infighting.
It was a long, stressful, taxing day. So, perhaps All Might could be forgiven for forgetting a few things.
Like, for example, informing young Midoriya that he was coming to visit that evening.
As such, completely unannounced, shortly after dinner, All Might had knocked on the door of his son's successor's apartment and shifted into his heroic form for the brief amount of time he had left. When Mrs. Midoriya opened the door, he bowed and said, "I AM HERE! To discuss your son's education!"
He had expected that Mrs. Midoriya would be shocked.
He did not expect her to faint.
He also didn't expect young Uraraka to be there.
"Izu-kun, is this normal?" young Uraraka said in awe as they tended to the Midoriya matriarch.
"Mom fainting when she's shocked? Yes. All Might visiting me at my home? No," young Midoriya responded, his eyes wide as the implications set in. "Come on in, sensei," he welcomed the hero to come inside.
All Might began to sweat as he removed his shoes and walked inside. "I wasn't expecting to see you here, young Uraraka."
"Oh, since I'm living alone while attending U.A., the Midoriyas have invited me to stay for dinner whenever I want," Uraraka said, equally nervous about intruding.
At that, Mrs. Midoriya came to, and looked around, "Is… is that All Might?! Here?! In our home?!" she shouted in panic.
"I am indeed here. After today's events, one situation has come up for all of you to hear…" All Might said, keeping himself together for the moment.
Izuku made sure the door was closed and locked. "Sensei, are you sure?"
"It's not ideal, but unfortunately, I am out of time," All Might said sadly.
"Okay then. Mom, Occhan, let's sit down. It's going to be shocking, but please don't freak out…"
Once they were seated, All Might finally let go of his transformation, steam escaping as he returned to his shriveled true form.
Both Mrs. Midoriya and young Uraraka looked at the hero in stunned silence, their jaws reaching the floor.
"Please don't yell," young Midoriya pleaded.
"I don't know if I even can," young Uraraka squeaked out, still in shock.
Mrs. Midoriya, for her part, muffled her mouth with her hands as she let out a shriek, then rushed over to the man, whisper-shouting, "What happened?! Are you injured? Was it a villain attack on the way here? Do you need some medicine? Should I call a doctor?"
"So that's where he gets it," All Might chuckled lightly. "I'm thankful for your concern, but this, unfortunately, is normal for me now. Six years ago, I was in a fight with a villain that gravely injured me. As time has passed, I have been reduced to what you see before you, and my ability to act as a hero has been limited to a mere three hours a day."
The two women let out a shocked gasp. Young Uraraka said, "So that's why you only teach one class a day…" in a whisper.
Mrs. Midoriya blinked, "Izuku… why aren't you surprised? How do you know all this?"
Young Midoriya sighed, "It started when I was walking home from school one day…" And then, both hero and student told them of the day of the sludge villain incident in full. The initial meeting. Grabbing All Might's leg. The confrontation on the rooftop… that was a difficult topic.
After recounting the answer he gave young Midoriya, All Might looked in his son's successor's eyes, "I am sorry. I had lost faith in myself by then. I thought that if someone with as powerful a Quirk as mine could be reduced to this, what could become of a Quirkless kid, scrawny as a twig and nervous, against the villains I faced? I felt that if I had said yes, I would be sending you to your grave. But I was wrong. And I would learn why shortly thereafter."
The story shifted to saving young Bakugou's life, and of the offer, and, finally, of the nature of their shared Quirk.
There was a shocked pause as both Mrs. Midoriya and young Uraraka looked at All Might, then Izuku, then back and forth. Finally, Mrs. Midoriya started to cry.
Instantly, young Midoriya was at her side, hugging her, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, mom. I felt it wasn't my secret to tell. I thought you might get hurt if you knew."
Between sobs, Mrs. Midoriya said, "It's… not that… I know you'd try and keep a secret as important as this. I'm just… I'm so proud of you, my brave, sweet, kind boy… I'm so happy your dream finally came true…"
All Might prostrated himself in apology, forehead touching the floor, "I am sorry for asking that this be kept secret. In hindsight, I should have informed you from the beginning."
Mrs. Midoriya shook her head, "You're absolutely forgiven. You told my son he could become a hero when even I couldn't. You've given him opportunities he could never have had otherwise."
All Might smiled as he rose. Fidgeting, young Uraraka spoke up, "Um, Izu-kun? I'm wondering a few things. Like, All Might never showed anything but the super strength, but you could sense threats today, and you've got me and some others in empathetic bonds. And you'd told me you learned how to use One for All from 'distant relatives'..."
Young Midoriya let out a smile, "Yeah, that's actually something new. See, when All Might gave me One for All, the Quirk got so powerful that it hit singularity. As a result, I learned that One for All doesn't just stockpile strength across all its users. It stockpiles the users' memories, personalities, and Quirk factors."
There was another shocked silence, before young Uraraka said, "So those powers are the previous user's Quirks! And the relatives…" Uraraka blinks, "You're talking to their ghosts."
Young Midoriya looked at her, then at his mother, and said, "You're taking this better than I thought. I thought you'd be forcing me into a straightjacket."
"Izuku, the number one hero just walked into our apartment and deflated," Mrs. Midoriya said. "At this point you could have told me you were abducted by aliens and I'd believe it. Are you doing okay with it? Do you have any problems with them?"
"No, most of them are very nice," young Midoriya said, "And the two who aren't tend to just stay quiet. They give me privacy and respect my boundaries. But they've been helping me out, telling me how to use One for All, giving me advice, lifting my spirits… I know this sounds weird and creepy..."
"Izu-kun, I might not be here if it weren't for you. I might not have made it to U.A. I might have been maimed. I might have died," Uraraka was determined as she stared into Izuku's eyes, "And you're saying that maybe you couldn't have done it if not for them? Well, if they're listening, thank you! All of you."
Izuku's eyes shone as he smiled at her, "They say you're welcome. Well, except Two and Three, they're not too sociable."
That led to a long discussion about who the previous users were and what they were capable of doing. All Might shared his own stories about Nana. The conversation lasted until All Might excused himself. At that late hour, young Midoriya was helping prepare a futon for young Uraraka, the intrusion at U.A. causing them to be wary of walking around late at night.
At the door, All Might turned to the matriarch, "Mrs. Midoriya-"
"Call me Inko," the short woman beamed at him, "It's the least I can do after all you've done for my son."
"If you insist, Inko-san," All Might smiled, "and you, in return, may call me Toshinori. I'm glad that you are being so supportive. As a result of my actions, young Midoriya's life has become a lot more dangerous. I will do everything in my power to teach and protect him."
Inko frowned, "It was always dangerous. The world wasn't kind to him for his differences. He was treated like a second class citizen because of a damned joint in his pinky toe. Now, he's doing so much better. He's pursuing his dream. He has new friends. He has new family members."
All Might laughed, "I was worried that there would be an issue when he said that Nana volunteered to be an additional mother."
"I raised my Izuku alone. I'd have loved a second mother before now," Inko said, giggling. All Might didn't know how to respond, and Inko continued, more solemnly, "And even before all that… Hisashi still supports us financially, but he's not a part of our lives anymore. My Izuku's never had a father before…"
All Might's eyes shone with tears, "I will strive to live up to the title Inko-san." And so, he walked away from his successor's son's home.
Izuku Midoriya's Hero Analysis of the Past, volume 1
Sixth User - En Rokubou
Hero Name: En
He used his given name as his Hero name!
Who does that?
En responded to that with "I did".
To be fair, his name does mean "smoke".
And he was an underground hero.
Quirk: Smokescreen
Generates a thick cloud of smoke from his body.
En could control how much smoke he released, and he could cover a large area with it.
One for All increased how much smoke he could release, and how dense it was.
En says Smokescreen could be difficult to use.
It obscured his own vision, not just those of his opponents.
Danger Sense would mitigate most of the problems with that.
Rather nondescript compared to the other vestiges.
Fairly short, has average hair.
Wears a long coat with a high collar that obscures his face.
Looks almost like a clean-shaven, well-slept Aizawa-sensei
Typically quiet and terse.
The exception is when he teases me.
Is this what having an older brother is like?
Yoichi says yes.
He died the youngest out of all the vestiges.
I asked them if there was anything they could tell me about their deaths to make sure I didn't make similar mistakes.
En just told me, "You don't have to worry about it anymore".